Aberdeen Townhouse
PLAQUE067
Description"Aberdeen Town HouseThese buildings were erected 1867-1874, and incorporate
the Town House and Sheriff Court as well as the
17th-century Wardhouse, or prison, of the Tolbooth.
The current buildings are on the site of the earlier
Tolbooth, permission to build which had been granted to
the magistrates of Aberdeen by Robert III in 1393
City of Aberdeen"
HistoryThis plaque is fixed to Aberdeen's Town House, designed by the architects Peddie and Kinnear in 1870. The site has been used for Civic governance since the later 14th century when a Tolbooth was built here. The Tolbooth built then housed the burgh's courts, as well as the Sheriff's Court, and burgh's tax collection point. A Wardhouse, or prison, was added onto the east side of the Tolbooth between 1616 and 1629 to ward those awaiting trial in the adjacent courts, punishment or later transportation. Most of the original buildings were demolished in the 19th century when the new Town House building was laid out, except the Wardhouse Tower of the Tolbooth (which today houses Aberdeen's Museum of Civic History). The current building houses both the City Council and the Sheriff's Court, as well as the Museum.
More Information:
The Castlegate has been the site of Aberdeen's Tolbooth (later Town House) since approximately 1393. Tolbooths were originally the collection point for tolls and taxes levied on trade. However between the 12th and the 14th centuries Tolbooths generally also came to house the Burgh's courts (the Baillie, Head, and Guild Courts) as well as other official functions such as the Sheriff's Court. It is not known where the pre 1393 Tolbooth was located. An earlier version may have been sited at the waterfront, on the line of modern Virginia Street. After a charter issued by Robert III in 1393 a new Tolbooth was built approximately under where the Sheriff Court part of today's Town House sits.
Between 1616 and 1629 a Wardhouse Tower was built on to the east end of the Tolbooth. This was built by Thomas Watson, master mason of Old Rayne, following an order from James VI that all burghs should have ‘sure and sufficient' prisons. In this case the Wardhouse was to act as prison for both the Burgh and Shire of Aberdeen. The Tolbooth building continued to grow and develop over the next few centuries.
In the 19th century it was decided to demolish much of the old complex of buildings and erect a new Town House. The only exception was the Wardhouse Tower of the Tolbooth which was to be preserved. The architects hired were Peddie and Kinnear who designed a new Town House in sandstone to match the free stone (imported from Kingoodie in the 17th century) from which the Wardhouse Tower of the Tolbooth was made. However the City Council wanted a granite Town House and Peddie and Kinnear subsequently altered their designs. The Town and County Buildings which were erected were built between 1867 and 1874 in a Scottish baronial style.
Today the Town House contains the Council Chambers (in a modern annex appended to the building in the 1970s), the Sheriff's Court and the Wardhouse Tower of the Tolbooth. The Wardhouse Tower is today known simply as the Tolbooth and houses Aberdeen's Museum of Civic History. The Museum retains a unique atmosphere and has displays in the various 17th and 18th century cells which survive. Displays include ones on crime and punishment and local history. The Museum is open seasonally over the summer months. This site has been used for civic governance in Aberdeen for some 7 centuries. The Town House main entrance on Castle Street leads into an impressive Victorian entrance hall which feature the town's mortification boards (records of bequests and gifts to the town over the centuries). The main curving staircase is lined which portraits and later photographs of past Lord Provosts of Aberdeen. The Town and County Hall and other grand civic rooms retain a wonderful sense of history and grandeur and feature, amongst other things, two impressive 18th century lead crystal chandeliers.
Location InfoCastle Street frontage of Town House to east of Tolbooth front door
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